A box of Pokémon cards bought more than 20 years ago for just £70 could sell for a five-figure sum at auction.
The sealed Pokémon Base Set Booster Box, Charizard (Blue Wing), 1996-99, contained within original Wizards of the Coast cellophane, is set to go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers on October 19 with a whopping guide price of £10,000-£15,000.
And though seller, Geoff Brown, 64, a retired engineer from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, knew the item was worth hanging on to when he bought it in the late 1990s, he never imagined its value could be so enormous today.
He said: “I purchased this item when it was on general release in the late 1990s. I am an avid trading card collector but not of Pokémon. My son and daughter were Pokémon collectors and I purchased three boxes at a memorabilia convention at Birmingham’s NEC.
“One box went to my son, one to my daughter and I put the other box into storage with my trading cards. I paid about £70 per box.
“I never imagined it would ever be quite so valuable, but I always knew it was worth keeping. My children are now grown up but still own well-kept Pokémon collections, including a number of Japanese Pokémon I purchased while working in Japan.
“I decided to sell it now because the current interest in Pokémon is high. It’s a great opportunity.”
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David Wilson-Turner, head of the Toy/Gaming Department at Hansons, said: “It’s a spectacular find and amazing to think those Pokémon cards, bought for just £70, have gone up in value so much. This box of cards could potentially earn enough money at auction to buy, say, a car, even though the condition is not absolutely perfect.
“The top part of the box has been slightly pushed in. However, it’s thought it could be flattened out by turning the box upside down. The U-seal is intact and cellophane fully sealed, though there are slight knocks and dinks to the edge of the box.
“Pokémon trading cards are massively popular to buy and collect and have been steadily rising in value for more than five years now. Wealthy young people in their 20s and 30s who got into Pokémon when they were children are buying rare cards and prices have spiked.
“For example, a 26-year-old boxer and YouTuber called Logan Paul caught the media’s attention when he wore a rare first edition Base Set Charizard Pokémon card as a medallion round his neck as he entered the ring for an exhibition fight. He bought the card for $150,000 (£108,117).
“Prices could be fuelled even more this year because of Pokémon25, an ongoing celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the Pokémon franchise, which began with the original Japanese release of Pocket Monsters Red and Green for Game Boy on February 27, 1996.”
The Pokémon Base Set Booster Box, lot 307, will be offered in Hansons Auctioneers’ October 19 SpecialistToy Auction at Hansons, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire. Catalogue/bidding platform: www.hansonslive.co.uk. To find out more, or to arrange a free valuation, email [email protected].
